Child and adolescent psychiatrist Dr Zirak Marker says that listening to traumatic events and pain in his patients’ lives in his practice of over 20 years made him aware of the importance of living in the moment, the impermanence of life, gratitude, introspection, letting go, peace of mind and loving unconditionally without being judgmental. The medicine man who "rediscovered (his) passion for painting and art through the lockdown and realized how therapeutic it was,” exhibited his series of paintings "Falling Waters” at the show venue Kathiwada City House in Worli on April 22, 2023.
Top: Dr Zirak Marker; above: his paintings: finding "ethereal beauty" in water
Marker states in the exhibition brochure that he did not fathom how mentally draining work was becoming. "Through my own journey of self-discovery I finally realized that my meaning and purpose in life was... touching people’s lives… In continuing to do so, I hope that I can express the same through my art … sharing my pain and joys in experiences, my learnings, aspirations and resolutions through my family and friends.”
Why the emphasis on water in his creations? "Water is the universal symbol of change; being formless and shapeless it is flexible and adapts to all circumstances. Reflective of everything in life, it can adapt to any form, forever flowing with purposeful movement.” Appreciating ethereal beauty with the tranquility of falling waters, the psychiatrist says it "is a result of its journey over obstacles and rocks that lay along its path… When water falls with its mist of chaos and turbulence, it yet gives us a sense of peace, allowing us to remain still from within.”
Marker’s profile states he is medical director at Mpower, a unit of Aditya Birla Education Trust and at Aditya Birla Integrated School.